Kleptocracy Weekly

Michael Quinn filed this request with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Department of the Treasury of the United States of America.
Tracking #

21-176-F

Status
Rejected

Communications

From: Michael Quinn

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

- all drafts, memos, bulletins, and or other forms of publication/dissemination pertaining to "Kleptocracy Weekly" from January 1st, 2015 to present.
- any records, such as email lists, mailing lists/contact lists, spreadsheets, etc of government/law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, organizations, businesses, etc that Kleptocracy Weekly is disseminated to.

I request all cross-referenced records be provided. If any responsive or cross-referenced records have been destroyed and/or transferred to NARA, please provide all records related/pursuant to their destruction/transfer. This includes but is not limited to:

- Confirmation of destruction and destruction slips
- File Numbers or other forms of ID of the aforementioned destroyed records
- Documents/records with any references to the destruction of the aforementioned destroyed records.
- Transfer slips
- Any other documentation relating to, mentioning or describing said transfer or destruction, to include but not be limited to confirmation that the Bureau has no other copies of said records

I want **ALL** records identifiable with this request, even though reports based on those records may have been sent to department headquarters or other department offices, and even though there may be duplication between sets of files. Please produce all records with their administrative markings intact, and all reports, memos, and documents to include any and all administrative pages. In any responsive material, please black out rather than white out or cut out material.

I request the administrative case file (including search slips and processing notes, i.e email correspondence and text messages) for this request. When searching email records, please search for any tracking information/identification assigned to this request, including but not limited to appeal number/ID, request number/ID, tracking number/ID, etc.

This part of the request is to be processed only after you have completed processing all of the above parts. This part does not request that you create any new record; rather, it requests the records that you will have created in processing the above parts, and will therefore exist before you conduct the search for this part. See McGehee v. CIA, 697 F. 2d 1095, 1100-05 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (agency must use time-of-search cut-off date, not time-of-request).

BACKGROUND

According to documents leaked to the ICIJ, FinCEN compiles a weekly report entitled "Kleptocracy Weekly". Multiple journalists have confirmed their existence through leaks of FinCEN records. BuzzFeed News has reported on Kleptocracy Weekly being used to "...[provide] additional perspective on the SARs", reporting on the dealings of foreign government leaders and any threats posed/impact created by their actions.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Michael Quinn

From: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Department of the Treasury

Attached is our response letter to your July 23, 2021, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and your August 20, 2021, followup request. If you have any questions pertaining to your request, please feel free to contact the FOIA Office by email at FinCENFOIA@fincen.gov.
Regards,

FinCEN FOIA Office
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